Swiss International Air Lines will commence new seasonal services from Zurich to both Niš and Dubrovnik during the 2025 summer season. Flights to the Croatian coastal city will be taken over from its subsidiary Edelweiss and run up to five times per week starting April 17 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays with a 112-seat Embraer E190 aircraft wet-leased from Helvetic Airways. Details can be viewed here. On the other hand, flights to Niš will launch on June 30 and operate twice per week, on Mondays and Thursdays, until August 21. It will mark the carrier’s return to the southeast Serbian city after more than three years. Flights will be operated by the 134-seat Embraer E195 E2 aircraft from Helvetic Airways. Further details can be found here. Swiss first launched year-round operations to Niš in April 2017, which ran until January 2020. It also maintained a limited number of holiday flights in December 2020 and January 2021. In Dubrovnik, the airline previously flew seasonally from Geneva in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Swiss' Chief Commercial Officer, Heike Birlenbach, said, "We are constantly striving to tailor our flight program even more closely to our customers’ wishes and needs. To this end, we work unceasingly to steadily further develop our range of air services and expand these where appropriate. So we’re delighted to provide our customers with an even more attractive and varied air travel offer for next year’s summer timetable period. The new Swiss service from Zurich to Niš is aimed primarily at travellers seeking a comfortable air travel option for visiting friends and relatives in the region. Swiss will also commence service to Dubrovnik on April 17, 2025. The route is being taken over from sister carrier Edelweiss, and will be served with up to five weekly flights throughout the summer schedules until the end of October". Up until now, Swiss has had a limited network in the former Yugoslavia, serving only Belgrade, Ljubljana, Pristina and Sarajevo. It will become the only airline operating out of Niš to offer passengers a business class product.
For its part, Niš Constantine the Great Airport said in a statement, “Niš Airport continues to bring good news when it comes to air traffic development in Serbia. Negotiations are ongoing with other airlines, and, as is already widely known to the general public, Niš Airport has entered the next stage of its development, which involves further modernisation and a number of construction projects”. The airport had previously said it would focus on attracting new carriers and launching new routes in 2025, after it saw its traffic decline throughout this year. Earlier this month, Serbia's Minister for Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, said discussions were underway with several low cost airlines regarding the establishment of a base at Niš Airport. In addition, the Minister noted discussions were ongoing with Air Serbia for the introduction of a new service from Niš, which would not be subsidised by the state, as opposed to the existing seven which are maintained as part of a Public Service Obligation (PSO) contract.
Finally good news from Nis!
ReplyDeleteWhen will the tickets go on sale?
ReplyDeleteThey are on sale
DeleteThey are way to expensive for INI market, also seems like you can’t book a connecting flight.
DeleteABsolutely you can!
DeleteCalm down, do you think the tickets are % 10 months in advance? You can. I checked FRAZRHINI.
Delete@Anonymous 09:15
DeleteOf course you can book connections to the whole of Swiss's network.
They are launching this flight primarily to feed their hub, not just for Nis and Zurich O&D traffic.
With this arrival in Zurich at 21.55? Even Monday one with arrival at noon is not the best option... This is O&D route, as their manager stated in the article. Few will transfer at Zurich.
DeletePeople from Nis already have hub connectivity through Istanbul flights. Its 2 weekly, year round.
DeleteAnd through Belgrade, too. But it would help if any of those was at least 4-5 pw.
DeleteI don't think the BEG flights connected onto much. Do they?
DeleteI think they mainly "connect" via Sofia.
DeleteYes, because from SOF you can really reach distant markets outside of Europe...
DeletePeople over there need access to big markets inside Europe, for a start. Distant markets outside of Europe are something Belgrade should take care of.
DeleteThey currently have nonstop access to Germany, Austria, Greece, Malta, Turkey, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Montenegro. More than respectable.
DeleteIt's not more than respectable, especially if you know we all pay for most of those flights each year. Something we didn't have to do only some 7-8 years ago, with a similar result in offer and pax numbers. I really can't respect that, especially not "more than respect"...
DeleteFinally ! Someone is interested for Nis .
ReplyDeleteSwiss seems to go after people from the south who otherwise would travel to Europe and beyond via BEG.
ReplyDeleteI believe so too.
DeleteSeems like a smart strategy. The time that it takes to drive or take the bus from Niš to BEG is spent instead flying to ZRH and having a massive network of destinations to the rest of Europe and America available.
No, the Swiss Chief Commercial officer tells you exactly what type of passengers they are going after. You just have to read the article.
DeleteI can't believe Swiss does not fly anywhere else in Croatia. Not even Split.
ReplyDeleteeasyJet is too strong in Geneva and Zurich is more or less fully covered by Croatia Airlines
DeletePart of some OU-LH Group deal, I'm sure.
DeleteConspiracies again.
DeleteMost likely
DeleteNot conspiracy, just a feeling. It may be wrong of course.
DeleteA feeling, čuj to!!!
Deletethere is also Edelweiss to Split, there is no LX to ZAG maybe as there was no LH to LJU in the JP era
DeleteThe same there is no JU at MUC and there is no LH at TGD. Yes, it's the feeling something is agreed out of the paper, of course.
DeleteThey've expanded so much in the region over the past few years, and they're a great airline
ReplyDeleteHave they? Once upon a time they used to fly to places like Zagreb, Banja Luka....
DeleteThey had a major ex-Yu expansion in 2014 and all the routes they launched were discontinued.
DeleteI wonder if this is part of a bigger strategy for Swiss in the Balkans? Adding Niš and Dubrovnik to their summer network could be a sign of things to come.
DeleteWhat things to come? Niš is being resumed and Dubrovnik is just a swap over from Edelweiss.
DeleteThey are slowly expanding in the region. Maybe in 2026 they start Zagreb and Podgorica.
Deleteits a swap from Edelweiss to Helvetic if you are precise
DeleteThey launched the sales of Zadar service while you discuss if there are things to come...
DeleteNo its a swap from WK to LX, operated by 2L
DeleteGood news for both
ReplyDeleteANALiticar needs urgent medical attention. He claimed whole year that INI is undermined by the government and now this?? And on top of that, Swiss doesn't serve ZAG
ReplyDeleteI can't stop laughing when reading any comment about that guy.
DeleteNo one will fly. Swiss is expensive and Niš is poor. They have barely 'leba da jedu. Koma.
Delete😂
DeleteIt is amazing how reality always proves him wrong. Always.
DeleteSooner than later Austrian and Lufthansa will follow.
DeleteLufthansa hardly but Dolomiti could. Or EW.
DeleteSure, Air Dolomiti is completely focused on our region, unlike Lufthansa
Delete@12;56
DeleteCost structure wise, Lufthansa mainline is too expensive and too much capacity for INI market. Dolomiti or even EW could work. Dolomiti for example 2 pw MUC INI.
But LX is part of LH group. They don’t need EW for DUS or Air Dolomiti for MUC. This is designed for long haul connectivity so they don’t need multiple LH hubs serving INI competing against each other.
DeleteDream on about longhaul connectivity This is designed to bring home
DeleteGazda Mladen from Schweiz for sommer vacation
If that was the case, they would not be running full service Swiss branded flights with business class!
DeleteFirst, Swiss is not a point to point airline, too expensive for that. Secondly, there are not that many Serbs from the Nis region who actually migrated/work in Switzerland. They are mainly in Sweden, France, Netherlands and Germany. However, there many Serbs who are also in the US and Canada so may want a more direct flight rather than flying through BEG.
Delete:D:D its ok to dream
Deletethey employ Helvetic because they have 112 seaters, smallest Edelweiss aircraft has 174 pax
DeleteThe great news is you can connect onto a huge network.
ReplyDeleteHope they will consider extending INI flights.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteFantastic news
ReplyDeleteThe news about Niš Airport’s ongoing negotiations with other airlines is good to hear. It sounds like 2025 could be a transformative year for them.
ReplyDeleteYes an LCC base would be a game changer.
DeleteReally hope that happens.
DeleteHappy to see Swiss putting more focus on the former Yugoslavian market! With only four destinations previously, crazy in my opinion considering the huge diaspora from the region in Switzerland
ReplyDeleteWell they use Edelweiss on many routes because in essence they are low yielding or they are leisure destinations.
DeleteActually, even Edelweiss has very limited presence.
DeleteThe diaspora is not from INI region.
DeleteWhat aircraft type did Swiss used to use before when they flew to INI?
ReplyDeleteMostly A220s but they used all sort of equipment.
DeleteThanks
DeleteThis is honestly a bit of a joke. How can one and a half months of operations be considered 'good news'? I’ve read there’ll only be 15 flights total from INI, yet they’re announcing it like it’s going to be a year-round service. Sure, it’s better than nothing, but I wouldn’t call it a real success or make such a big deal out of it.
ReplyDeleteBaby steps
DeleteShould be in news flash section, not main news.
Delete^ Why? It involves two routes - Dubrovnik and Nis and one is throughout the season/
DeleteNew FR flight from ZAG to Italy were in main news so why not this one?
DeleteHe is just triggered. Ignore.
DeleteOh, we were worried about you health, thank God you're prevailed. Of course it's a small news, because it's not about Zagreb. If that would be a Zagreb route, would be a huuuge success.
DeleteDon't worry, they will prolong the route, this is just beginning.
Only aviation site where someone is bothered by the placement of aviation related news.
DeleteYes, rare place where someone would be seething that some city is getting flights. Nuts.
DeleteAirlines like Swiss are already announcing their summer network and we have airline here making big changes to the winter network 2 days before it starts...
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteWhen you have a fleet of 100 aircraft it is much easier to plan your network.
DeleteThat´s a good one @anon 10.51 :D
DeleteGood to see a new route from Nis and that they are negotiating with other airlines.
ReplyDeleteThe more routes to the region the better.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteSo two legacy and two LCCs at Nis. Not bad for a small airport.
ReplyDeleteThey should really consider Banja Luka. There is demand.
ReplyDeleteAnd more transfer potential.
DeleteDidn't Edelweiss fly to BNX?
DeleteThey scheduled the flights, put tickets on sale and then cancelled them.
DeleteToo little too late, we should read this news back in 2021. Three years of doing nothing can't be saved by 2 weekly service for less than 2 months. INI management needs to get replaced ASAP, let's have someone interested in aviation over there who will shake things up and allow people from the southern Serbia to use their own airport instead of Bulgarian one.
ReplyDeleteYes, in the middle of the pandemic was the time you expected to read this news.
Deletethey had all kind of routes, they didnt work out. Its easy to blame it on the mgmt how about it about the weak market?
Delete2004-2015: average pax numbers some 25k
Delete2016: 124k
2017: 331k
2018: 351k
2019: 422k
2020: 154k
2021: 146k
2022: 389k
2023: 448k
Can you please point me out when that weaking of the market happened?
*weakening
Deletethanks to expensive PSO. How many routes left from W6 and FR?
DeleteEach domestic route in Croatia is under PSO for more than 10 years. It is more than logical also Nis to have it.
Deletesure but you are avoiding the answer of the question
DeleteWhere is the answer on this question?
DeleteCan you please point me out when that weaking of the market happened?
Regarding to W6 or FR you need to ask them the questions why it is so.
because they ddint work for them.
DeleteImpressive YU network out of CH:
ReplyDeleteLJU ZAG PUY ZAD SPU BNX SJJ BEG INI DBV TIV TGD OHD SKP PRN
15 Airports incl A350s to PRN
Better twice per week and just two months than nothing ti Niš...
ReplyDelete